


In or Out

by onechairleft



Series: In or Out [1]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-06
Updated: 2013-03-06
Packaged: 2017-12-04 11:32:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/710330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onechairleft/pseuds/onechairleft
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Kindly Man has learned something that he shares with No-one- and she has a choice to make.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In or Out

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I'd love to think that something like this is where the series will go, but it's unlikely. And as I'm not GRRM and I don't own ASOIF, there's no chance of it happening!

 

The sun was just setting as the ugly child crossed the last bridge to the House of Black and White. There was a chill in the air- strange, for Braavos to be cold at all- but the child ignored it. She wasn’t cold.

She pushed open the heavy door and slipped inside, careful to make no noise. Her feet were silent as a cat’s and she was sure that only those that were watching would notice her arrival.

The Kindly Man was waiting for her in the room with all the faces. He smiled when he saw her approach and she nodded her greeting in return. There was no need to report- the job was done and the gift had been delivered.

He didn’t speak, but she knew the role she had to play- return her face and wait. He would tell her what to do, even if it took hours. Sometimes, he made her wait for hours before simply dismissing her. Once, that would have frustrated her, but she was No-One and No-One didn’t mind waiting.

Today, he sat with her and poured tea. She wondered if it would take her hearing or her voice, but she drank it anyway. It tasted of mint.

“There was a man here today, a merchant, just arrived home from sea.” She said nothing. _Patience_ , she remembered. _Answer only when there is an answer worth speaking and ask only those questions worth asking._ “He came to our waters for the gift and he received it gladly.” They were all gladdened, those who came to the House of Black and White. “He had a terrible wound on his leg which had festered. He was rotting from the inside out.”

The pain must have been terrible, she knew. No surprise that he was glad of the gift.

“What do you know of the isle of Skagos?”

“Skagos? I know nothing.” The name was familiar, but she wasn’t lying when she spoke. Not truly. She knew nothing of the place- she had not been there and had never met anyone from there. All she knew were stories and those weren’t worth listening to. The stories always lied.

“It seems that this man, this merchant, fell afoul of a beast there unlike any that has ever been seen in Braavos. He thought to capture it and bring it here as his prize, but the beast hurt him badly and escaped.” The Kindly Man was smiling again but there was something in his expression that she had never seen before. “The Skagosi called the beast a _Direwolf._ They say it arrived on their island with a storm, many months ago.” He watched her, even as his careful hands poured more tea for them both.

“A Direwolf?” She heard the catch in her voice as if it was someone else speaking. Perhaps it was.

“Yes. On the isle of Skagos.” Her eyes met his and she was startled to discover that hers were filled with tears.

She wiped at them, furious. Tears were for everyone else. She was No-One and she didn’t cry.

“There is a ship leaving the Purple Harbour on the dawn, heading for that same isle. _The Merry Widow_. A fine ship, as far as any ship is fine.” He stood abruptly and she stood in return, wary. But he only turned and walked away, dismissing her as he always did.

“Why would you say this?” What was his purpose? There was always a purpose; always another test to be undertaken. Perhaps that was what this was; a test of her fealty.

He didn’t answer. She wasn’t sure she’d expected him to.

She finished her tea slowly and cleared away the mugs and the pot before leaving. Her room was above an inn not far from where Cat of the canals had once sold her wares. She was wary on the walk there; every sound and shadow saw her twitching and reaching for a sword she no longer carried.

_Fear cuts deeper than swords._

She didn’t sleep. She didn’t even lie down. She stayed, instead, staring out across the canals and trying to understand what the Kindly Man wanted. If she went, she could not return- she knew that without asking. There was no place for divided loyalties in the House of Black and White. If she didn’t go, she would truly be No-One and there would be no divided loyalties in the House of Black and White. If she didn’t go now, she never would.

“Queen Cersei, Ilyn Payne, Ser Meryn, Dunsen, Raff the Sweetling. _Valar morghulis.”_  She wanted to kill them all; even as No-One she wanted their blood on her hands, those and the others- Theon the traitor; the Bastard of Bolton; Walder and all the Freys of the Crossing. She wanted to taste their fear as she watched them die and the House of Black and White was teaching her how.

But there was a Direwolf on Skagos.

The Skagosi were Northmen, for all their wild ways. They suffered the winter storms and snows and survived them, same as the rest of the North. They owed their allegiance to Winterfell, even if they would prefer it otherwise.

_There was a Direwolf on Skagos._

When dawn broke over Braavos, there was a skinny girl on a ship. She wore a thin-bladed sword on her hip and carried a small parcel of things; clothing and coin, mostly. It was cold where she was headed.

The Captain of the _Merry Widow_ had been expecting her; her passage had been paid for, bought with a cold iron coin.

 

 

 

 


End file.
